


1st Scent:  Lessons

by Windryder1



Series: How to Train Your Animal Demon [1]
Category: Persona 4
Genre: Family, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Other, Profound Bond, Shrinking, Soul Bond, Yôkai, cat/human hybrid, fox/human hybrid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-23 04:23:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3754405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windryder1/pseuds/Windryder1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The fox demon has to live with Yu for a while until the bond is strong enough for them to be separated without any adverse affects.  He begins to realize that the little animal demon is learning from him, so he now has to wear the hat of 'teacher.'  In a sense, Yu must raise this little fox demon.<br/>He laughs for the first time since coming to Inaba.<br/>A simple game of 'Chase' becomes the little Fox Demon's best memory.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1st Scent:  Lessons

1st SCENT: LESSONS

\----2 days later... May 9th...----

Yu unlocked the front door and stuffed the key into his pocket. “I'm back.”

His casual announcement was met with a sweet response from his little cousin. “Welcome home.” 

The t.v played its white noise of an afternoon kid's show through the room. He set his school bag on the couch and moved to the kitchen to find a snack. 

Two black tipped, rust-red colored ears poked out of the bag. The article shuffled a bit as the little fox demon crawled out onto the cushion and stretched with a loud sound of enjoyment at being free. 

“He still gets to stay with us? Even after two days?” Nanako gasped happily. 

“It'll take time for him to get used to their house.”

Yosuke bounced to the floor, ran circles around the giggling eight year old girl, and darted into the kitchen. He butted in between Yu's legs to see what savory goodies the open refrigerator had to offer. 

Yu had brought the small creature directly home from school, since the Hanamuras were out until nightfall, and they still weren't sure Yosuke would feel comfortable staying overnight at their house yet. Mrs. Hanamura had given Yu a spare key to their front door after the other night's incident. He would have gone straight there to study and work on teaching the fox his language until they returned, but he needed to stay with Nanako tonight. His uncle would be home late again. Although his cousin insisted she would be fine by herself, Yu wouldn't have felt right abandoning her.

Yosuke's bushy tail swept lazily from side to side as he held the refrigerator door open with one hand and foot, and balanced to see into a slim cardboard box holding a small pot full of dirt. A few green shoots poked through the soil. He pressed his finger into the moist sod curiously. It looked like a brownie. Perhaps it tasted like one, too?

“Yosuke, don't eat that.”

He frowned at Yu's order, but obeyed and wiped his finger on his jeans. He retorted in a disgruntled yip. This was a plant! He wasn't going to chow down on roughage, even if it did smell like cookies. He was just going to try a small bite. Just a tiny bit. That was all. 

“If you're hungry, grab an apple.” Yu sat down at the table in front of the t.v and opened his notebook. If he could at least get his homework done, he'd have the rest of the evening to work with the fox. 

Yosuke pulled the bottom drawer open with both hands, picked up a green apple, set it down next to him, and pushed the door closed. His tail barely escaped being caught by the refrigerator door. He sat down in front of the t.v next to Nanako, held the oversized fruit in both hands, and bit out a large, juicy chunk. Apple juice dripped onto the floor. He didn't mind it when she ruffled his hair. 

The sound of apple-crunching lived at the edge of Yu's hearing as he worked through math problems. He was halfway through an algebraic equation when he suddenly paused. Something wasn't right. The crunching had ceased. He glanced up to see the fox holding the half-finished apple in one hand, and staring with complete rapped attention at something near the couch. Yu turned, glanced around, then back to the small creature. His companion hadn't moved, and his ears were fully forward. His tail had gone still. “What are you looking at?”

Yosuke blinked once, sniffed the air, then dropped the forgotten apple. He slowly got to his feet and slid sideways. His eyes remained glued to the edge of the couch near the sliding back door. 

Yu scanned the area again, yet saw nothing that demanded that high level of focus. He arched an eyebrow curiously. Maybe he'd spotted an insect.  
Yosuke took two soft steps forward, and crouched with one hand planted on the floor. His tail flicked and his ears flattened as he leaned back and grinned. 

Yu blinked at the explosive pounce that followed. Yosuke launched himself up into the air, hands out, and dove behind the couch.  
A small, yellow rubber ball rolled out into the open. 

He grinned. Sometimes it was easy to forget how young the fox-boy was, and that he was part animal. 

Yosuke picked up the ball, tossed it into the air, and pounced on it when it hit the ground. He dashed away on his hands and feet, around the table, over Yu's lap despite the narrow space between him and the table, and charged his prey again. He swatted at it with one hand, stopped just short of the other side, pivoted in a sharp turn, and kicked the ball. It bounced across the floor. He shot after it.

Yu picked it up. “Nanako, is this yours?” 

The fox hopped up and down trying to retake his prize, but the other held it just out of reach. 

“Oh! That's where it went! I thought I'd lost it. I was looking for it this morning to give it to him anyway.” She giggled. “Do you think he'll bring it back if you throw it?”

“He's not a dog. I don't think he'll play 'Fetch.'” He raised it over his head to avoid the grasping hands of the animal demon, who'd tried to climb up his shirt. 

“But he's a fox. My teacher said they're, um...K9s, and always like to play. That they, uh,” she put her finger to her lips to try to recall the facts about foxes. Ever since finding the little demon in her room playing with her Loveline magnifying glass, she'd been distracted with learning everything she could about foxes. “They like to run, and pounce, and dig holes, and are curious about everything.”

He held the ball out and watched the young fox's head follow his motion as he slowly moved it from left to right and back again. 

Yosuke swept the floor with his tail. He wanted that ball. He'd found it behind the couch, so it now belonged to him. “Yuuuuu,” he whined. There couldn't be any other way to be more transparent. He didn't know what 'Fetch' was, but he could care less. That ball was now officially the best thing in the world of Inaba. The quick sounds the young fox made was between a chirp, a trill, a purr, and a bark. It was filled with an incredible amount of 'crave.' His ears bounced down with each fast vocal point.

That was the first time Yu had ever heard that kind of noise from him. It was both pleading and funny at the same time. Oddly, his first instinct was to do what he could to make it stop. Whether it was the dissonant sound itself, or the bond, he didn't know. Yu studied his eager face. That must have meant he seriously wanted something so badly he could taste it. It was true that children could turn a simple toy into the most fantastic thing in the world with their imaginations. If this fox was still that young, then theoretically, tossing a ball back and forth wouldn't be considered a sport reserved for an animal. It would be like playing with a small child. What was the harm? Besides, he was afraid the fox-boy would pee his pants if he didn't get that ball back. 

Yu stood and opened the back door to step out into the evening light. The fox demon bounded out after him, as did Nanako. 

Playing outside with a fox demon sounded like more fun to her than watching t.v. She'd even forgotten to turn off the set. She ran to the other end of the yard and jumped up and down. “We can teach him how to talk!”

“Yu!” Yosuke leaped up onto his back and tried to grab the toy from over the tall Human's shoulder. “Yu,” he whined. “Yuuuuu.”

Yu set him down on the grass, “I dunno if I should play 'Fetch' with you or not. You're not really a regular animal like a dog. You shouldn't be treated like one. But,” He held the ball between his thumb and middle finger, “if you really want it, you'll have to say something else other than my name, ok?”

The fox-boy yipped excitedly in agreement as his ears flattened back in play. He didn't really know any other words, but he would do anything to play with that toy. The same odd quick chattering sound left him once more, only this time it had changed to give a boisterous feel. 

“You spoke a couple of days ago. I know you can do it again.” He tossed the ball into the air and caught it. “What did you have for breakfast?”  
Yosuke thought for a moment to a word he did understand. “Waffles!”

Yu tossed the ball across the yard. Yosuke ran after it, leaped up, and caught it in his hands. He landed in a roll, his tail curling across his shirt. Happy, he ran back and held the ball up for the Human to throw it again. This was fun!

Nanako laughed. “Me next!”

Yu crouched down and took the offered toy. “Ok. I guess this is a game now. So, what's your name? Your full name?”

Yosuke's brown eyes never left the yellow sphere in the others hand. “Yo..eeh...ss..um...” How in name of rain was he supposed to even pronounce his name? He recognized it whenever anyone said it, and it was familiar –it belonged to him, after all—but he didn't know how to make the sounds. He'd been lucky when he'd guessed how to pronounce Yu's name. 

“I guess we never taught you, huh.” Come to think of it, the little creature didn't even know how to form the characters to begin with. He'd copied a few words, but ultimately did not have the foundation to learn a new language. They would have to start from scratch. “Ok, watch me and try to copy what you see.” He went through each sound, speaking clearly and slowly. 

Yosuke tried his best to imitate what he saw and heard, though it was rough-going. He exhaled an exasperated sigh. Could he just play with the ball and not have to include this?

Yu sensed his frustration. “We'll keep working on it. Let's try your name.” He said Yosuke's name slowly, over-enunciating each character.  
The little fox's ear tipped down curiously as he watched carefully and listened. His eyes were glued to the Human's mouth. After mimicking the formations his lips were supposed to make a few times, he tried putting sound to it. “Yo..saa...su...ke. Yo su..Yo'ske Hanananana'na ma.”

“Very close. Try it again.”

“Yosuke Ha'ha..na... ma... Hanamura!”

“Good.” He rolled the ball across the grass and watched Yosuke dart after it. He'd ask Nanako if he could borrow her language book later on to teach the young animal demon how to speak.

The small fox ran circles around Nanako and gave her his toy. He yipped at her to throw it.

The little girl thought of a few questions for a moment, then said, “What color is the sky?”

“Rain!” 

“Rain's not a color, silly,” she laughed. “What's the color when it's not raining?”

He glanced up at the sky as a flock of birds flew over. “Um.........Ba... Br...... Blue!”

Nanako tossed the ball up in an arch. 

He waited for it to land, pounced on it, rolled it across the lawn, and run it back to Yu. 

It wasn't a traditional means of studying, but if it worked, he would use it. “What is the name of this town?”

“I...ni..na... Ina...Inanaba!” 

“Close enough.” Again, the boy rough-and-tumbled with the ball across the lawn before bouncing it back to Nanako. 

“How many fingers am I holding up?” She fanned out her left hand.

Yosuke scratched his ear with his head tilted slightly. He knew the number, just not their word for it. It was written in Yu's math book a ton of times, and he even knew how to write them out thanks to countless hours of boredom at school. He held up his own hand, and counted up from 1 in his head until he reached... “Five!” 

“Nope,” Nanako's eye closed in mirth at her joke. “Four and a thumb.” 

Yosuke blinked repeatedly in confusion. His hand and hers were exactly the same. He didn't get it. 

Nanako threw the ball back to her older cousin, thus causing Yosuke to completely forget the jest. 

Yu caught the ball with one hand when their small friend kicked it over. “Good one, Nanako.” He pointed to the lawn. “What's that, and what color is it?”

Yosuke automatically answered in his language, and jumped up to snag the ball. 

Yu held it out of reach. “In Japanese.”

Yosuke wrinkled up the corner of the orange shirt, squinted one eye shut and thought hard. He knew what it was called. He loved running through it with bare feet. It was cool, and moist, and it was soft like the carpet in the Hanamura's living room. It would be much easier if Yu could understand him, but he needed to learn, and he didn't want to disappoint his Human. “Gr...grass. Green?”

“Not bad.” Yu tossed the ball again. 

The two of them spent the next few minutes quizzing the tiny demon and tossing the ball around. Most of their questions garnered incredibly simple answers, that is until Nanako got to one that completely stumped the poor little guy. 

“How old are you?” It was something she'd wanted to learn since she met him. She readied the ball, and waited for an answer. 

Yosuke just stared at her. His tail had gone completely still and his ears folded back, though not in any negative emotion. He had absolutely no clue. It had to be a decent number to warrant the fact that he already knew everything they asked, but low enough that something as simple as this game counted as high entertainment. He stole a look back to his friend as if he had the answer. 

“I don't think he knows,” Yu sat down on the lawn. “Try another question.”

The little girl was about to ask what sound a frog makes when someone rapped their knuckles casually against the front door. “I'll get it.” She dropped the ball and ran inside. 

Finally, the prize was his! Yosuke pounced on it, and batted it around the yard. He threw it at Yu, who caught it, but simply bounced it back. He'd been asked enough questions for one session. This was simply 'play.' 

Yosuke's tail swished gleefully back and forth as that ball became his world. 

“I think it's for you.” Nanako called out. She'd left the door closed, though used the kitchen stool to see through the peep hole. She took pride in the fact that she never opened the door for strangers. Even though her older cousin was here, she wanted to show off her ability to be responsible.

It was close to 5pm. There weren't many people who would come to visit him since it was a school night. Curious, he went back inside and opened the door. Chie smiled back at the threshold with a plastic Junes bag in her hand. Her green jacket was zipped all the way up, and her jeans were just long enough for the fabric to gather past her ankles.“Chie? Um... Hi.”

“Sorry for the random house crashing. I hope you don't mind.”

“Not at all.” He stepped back. “Come in.” He closed the door behind her and nodded to his cousin. “It's ok. She's a friend from school. Nanako, this is Chie Satonaka. She already knows about Yosuke. Chie, this is Nanako—my little cousin.”

Chie slipped her shoes off at the door and stepped into the living room. “Nice to meet you, Nanako.”

Nanako folded her hands behind her back and smiled up at their guest. “Would you like some tea? I can make some. I'm good at it.” She beamed. 

This little girl had to be one of the most adorable children she'd ever seen. “Sure. Thanks.” She set the bag down on the kitchen table while Nanako poured some water into a teapot and set it on the stove. “When I was that old, my dad wouldn't let me near fire. He was afraid I'd burn the house down.” She chuckled. “He did give me credit for pouring coffee, juice, and tea into the ice trays to freeze them for later, though.” 

“That's pretty smart,” Yu admitted. 

Chie's cheeks flushed lightly. “Yeah, well, common sense says liquid freezes.” She rummaged through the bag for the items within, and set them out on the table. “Anyway, I brought some things for the fox demon. It's just some legos and a cat teaser. There's not really much in the pet section of Junes for foxes, and I couldn't ask what animal demons like, so I guessed. There's also a braided rope my dog never really played with.”

Yu looked over a cat teaser with a tan faux fur tail on the end of the string. “Actually, I do need to talk to you about that. See, he's—“ Something bumped against his foot. He looked down just in time to catch the red and orange blur that was the fox demon charge in, grab the ball, and roll across the floor with it. “—here.” 

Yosuke rolled onto his back, hugging the ball, and sniffed the air. It held a hint of steak spices. He knew immediately who it was. With a loud, playful 'yip,' he ran over, still holding his precious toy. 

She crouched down. “You were playing fetch?” 

Yosuke hopped back when she reached to take the ball, laughed, and ran around the room.

“I was using it in a game to get him to talk.”

“Did it work? Can he actually speak now?”

“A little, but nothing near sentences. He still needs to learn the basics.” He took down two mugs from the cupboard and helped with the tea. 

“So, you get to be a teacher, too.” Chie picked up the cat teaser and bounced it in the air. She grinned when it caught the fox-boy's attention. 

He set the ball down, watched the teaser, wiggled his tail, and jumped to grab it. The third try claimed a victory. It sprang out of his hands when he let it go. This wasn't as fun as the ball, but it was new and entertaining. Soon, he was challenging himself to see how many times he could catch it.

Yu set both cups on the low table and settled back to his homework. Chie moved to the other side, keeping the animal demon busy the whole time. 

“I thought he was staying at the Hanamura place.”

“He will later on. There's a complicated story to that.”

“So, you're babysitting him now?” Chie swirled the teaser through the air like a ribbon. 

Yosuke followed, though kept running in a circle even after she raised the toy, and chased his tail. He fell over in a flop with a drawn out laugh at the room spiraling above him.

“Yes and No. I was over there a couple of days ago...”

Chie sipped her tea as he hold her everything Sayaka had related to him about animal demons, what she knew of the bond, and how it affected the two of them. When he finished, she set down her cup and leaned back on her hands. “That explains why you were acting so weird the last few days.”

He arched an eyebrow.

“You were kinda cold to everyone, you hardly ate, and you didn't say hi to anyone. Plus, you were carrying around some serious baggage.” She tapped at her own eye to indicate exhaustion. “Yukiko was scared she'd done something wrong. Turns out it was just because you were away from this little guy.” She brushed her hand past the fox's tail when he ran by with the ball again.

“Sorry.”

“It's kind of sweet, actually.”

“I don't know about that...” He tapped his pencil against his open notebook. He was bound to an animal demon through the soul, and both suffered if they were unwillingly separated. There wasn't an ounce of 'sweet' about that part of this situation.

“Of course it is. It's like having a pet you really, really love, and can't wait to come home to. I was like that with Muku when I first got him. Hey,” she snapped her fingers. “Do you want some help teaching him how to be a Human?”

The sudden offer blindsided him. He was still new in town, and wasn't sure he should ask people he'd recently met for a favor as big as this. “I don't ...”

“I mean, don't get mad, but you don't really seem to know what you're doing. Raising a pet isn't easy.”

“He's not a pet,” Yu instantly replied.

She smirked. “Well, whatever he is, he's probably taking his first ques from you to figure out how to do stuff. In order to teach Muku tricks, I had to do them first until he understood.”

“I see.” Yu watched Yosuke return to playing with the ball. He never thought he'd be the learning focal point for any living thing. He looked back to his smiling house guest. “Thanks, but I didn't want to bother anyone.” 

“Nonsense! Yukiko and I would love to help!” She sat up straight. “Then it's settled. We'll help every day as much as we can to make this guy act less like an animal, and more like a person.” 

“Thanks.”

Chie dug her phone out of her pocket. “Here. As a token of my thanks for letting us help you, I want to show you a picture of my dog.” She held the tech out to him, displaying a snapshot of a younger smiling Chie with her arms wrapped around the head of a hound larger than her. “He drools a lot, and he smells like it's nobody's business, but I love him. He's the reason Yukiko and I even met.” She turned it off and pocketed it. 

It was a touching story, and he felt honored she would share that part of her life with him. 

These two giants talked way too much, especially the blonde-haired one. Yosuke was bored. That needed to be fixed. Now. In one swift pounce, he jumped onto the table, grabbed the pencil out of Yu's hand, clamped his teeth around the implement, and dove to the floor. 

“Hey!” Yu scrambled to his feet and chased the culprit around the table, through the kitchen, and back. “Give that back. That's not a toy.”

Like Yosuke cared if it was a toy. He wanted to play, and this was the best idea he could come up with. He hopped up the couch to the shelf behind it, and scurried around the boxes to avoid any grabby hands. 

Yu knelt on the couch, thinking he'd cornered the little guy, and lunged forward with both hands. 

Yosuke pounced. He barely managed to dodge by leaping onto the others shoulder, and down to the floor. His ears folded back in a 'play' pose as his tail swished in delight. The posture held a clear 'catch me if you can' message. He ran back outside with his prize secured between his K9s.

“C'mon, I need that!” Yu bolted outside. It was a closed-in yard, so there was nowhere the fox demon could run. He jumped off the low deck, landing in a crouch, and grabbed for the fox as he dashed between his legs. He spun when the other cut a sharp 90 degree turn zigzagging across the lawn. Yu tried to keep up, grasping at air, losing his balance and planting his hand against the ground. The other was too fast for him. He had to refocus. This was a job for his kenjutsu training. 

Chie moved to the doorway to watch the chaos of an uncoordinated second year high schooler barely under six feet tall animatedly chase a 15” tall fox-human hybrid around the yard. “Try to flank him! To your right! To your right! Hahaha! You missed!”

Yosuke dropped the pencil. He shifted left just to prove her wrong. 

Nanako walked down the stairs from where she'd gone into her room to do her own homework with her worksheet in hand. “I'm stuck on a problem. Can you—uh?” She looked outside beyond Chie where her older cousin ran by trying in futility to catch the tiny fox, and laughed at how clumsy he looked. She moved next to the older girl,

“Hey, Nanako,” Chie chuckled. 

“I wanted some help with my homework, but why is he chasing Yosuke?” 

“He took his pencil.” 

“Oh.” She smiled when Yu's attempts to tell the fox-boy to stop began to hold hints of laughter. “He's been living with me and daddy for three weeks, but I never heard him laugh until now.” She giggled. “I like it.” 

“Really?” Chie glanced to her when she nodded, then back to the scene. Perhaps having the fox-boy around was a good thing. “Why did he move here?”

She shrugged. “Daddy said his parents are gone and he's family.” They'd be back in a year to get him. He seemed nice, but quiet. It was odd having someone else in the house. It had just been her and her father since her mother died a year ago.

Chie's jaw slacked. His parents were gone? She frowned sadly as she watched him play with the fox-demon without a care. How could she be so foolish? Of course he'd be distant and silent. He'd been orphaned. “I didn't know, I--”

“They went to America,” Nanako smiled into the sunlight, completely oblivious to Chie's morbid assumption.

Chie's sorrowful thoughts shattered into a pile of upset foolishness. A muscle in her cheek twitched. “America?”

“Yup.”

She sighed. “Of course. That makes sense. Why would it be anything bad?” she tried to hide her embarrassment in a smile. That 'assuming everything' problem of hers really needed to disappear. She needed a change of subject to recover from being a first class heel. “What's your homework problem?” 

“Spelling.”

“Want me to help you? I don't think he's gonna catch that fox any time soon.” Chie sat down on the deck outside and held out her hand for the grade school assignment. 

Nanako handed it over and sat with her legs dangling off the edge. The shine from the metal eraser end of an orange pencil lying in the grass flared briefly in the late evening light. Her cousin and the fox demon were ignoring it completely. She could recognize a game of 'Chase' anywhere. 

These entire shenanigans had stopped being about retrieving the pilfered pencil. Yu spotted it as he ran, but quickly refocused on the small creature, and pivoted to block his attempt to run around him on the right. He had him now! In a quick motion, he lunged for the fox. “Gotchya!”

Yosuke yipped loudly as he was scooped up and held tightly. He struggled in laughter to squirm out of his grip, but was pinned to his chest. Yu sat up and unexpectedly let him go. He hopped back when his friend stood. 

“Is that all you've got?” Yu spread his feet shoulder width apart and smiled beneath silver eyes. “C'mon, Yosuke.” 

Yosuke trill-chattered when the other took on what must be the Human play posture. He grinned and pounced. Yu was surprisingly quick as he moved through the yard. 

“Can't get me. Oo, so close. Haha!” Yu jogged backwards as the other charged, and ran through the yard in quick motions that mirrored the footing of his martial arts training. He laughed harder when the fox pounced right into his chest and made him stumble back. Yu dropped to the ground in an melodramatic theatrical manner. “I'm hit! It's all over!” 

The fox stared him down as he got back to his feet. Now it was his turn. Being chased by the one who saved him was even more fun than playing with the ball. This was the best game ever! He yipped loudly, and took off to the right, laughing the whole time. He couldn't be happier dodging Yu's attempts to cut him off and catch him. 

Yu laughed out loud. Every time he succeeded in catching the little guy, he'd let him go, and the game would continue. Whether he would admit it or not, he was having fun. He'd even momentarily forgotten that Chie and Nanako were there. 

The two did homework on the deck while the teenager and fox demon chased each other in the warm, honey-gold light of the evening sun.


End file.
